The Path to Love
by Sakura no Negai
Summary: When a hunt gone awry pushes them apart, what will it take for Dean and Castiel to find their way back to each other again?


**A/N: Hello everyone! This story was supposed to be my official fanfic debut, but life got in the way and I couldn't really commit to it until after I finally got a real break. That aside, I hope you all enjoy this story.**

**This is dedicated to CanaryYellBird for the idea and the prompt, and to NCISBALTOFAN for her encouragement and advice.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural or any of its contents. Those rights belongs to CW and the wonderful Eric Kripke. I am just a crazy little fangirl and this is how Supernatural would be in my little world.**

* * *

Now he'd done it.

One minute he'd been facing off the angel, having the staring contest of the century, the next he's blinking at the woods, cursing the empty space where Castiel had just been.

It was official, Dean Winchester was the biggest idiot ever.

* * *

It all started with what was supposed to be a routine hunt. Sam had gotten wind of some supernatural activity in Middle of Nowhere, Nebraska, and the brothers headed over there and bunked down in a motel while they did research and interviewed the townsfolk. From the mutilated corpses they saw at the morgue and witness reports of seeing a man change into a wolf before attacking, Dean and Sam suspected they had another werewolf on their hands. The only thing that made them doubt this was the fact that the attacks occurred all throughout the lunar cycle, not just around the full moon. Feeling stuck, they decided to call Bobby for help.

"Hey Bobby," Dean greeted when Bobby picked up the phone.

"Oh great, what do you idjits want this time?" Bobby answered gruffly.

"Well, hello to you too sunshine," Dean rolled his eyes. "Sam and I are on a hunt and we think it's a werewolf plaguing this town, but the patterns don't match up. This thing looks and acts like a werewolf, but it's attacking whenever it wants, not just around the full moon. Do you have any idea what else this could be?"

"Hmmm," Bobby paused, "I've heard of this before, another hunter ran into one on another case, but it's pretty rare. Can't believe you managed to come across one. I think what you boys are looking at is a lycan."

"A lycan?" Dean asked dubiously.

"Yeah, a lycan. It's like a werewolf, but it's weaker and can change its form at will. Most of the time it lives as a human, and only when it attacks does it change into a wolf."

"So what, it's a baby wolf then?" Dean smirked.

"No, it ain't a baby wolf, you idjit." Now it was Bobby's turn to roll his eyes. "It's like a werewolf that's more human than wolf."

"So how do we kill this thing? If it's more human, will silver still work on it?"

"Silver should work, but regular bullets will work too. Since it's more like a human, it'll die like a human too."

Dean pondered on this for a moment before replying, "Okay, great, thanks Bobby."

"Yeah, no problem. Just be careful you two." Despite how gruff he may come across as, Bobby truly cared about his boys.

"We will Bobby, thanks." Dean hung up the phone and turned around to Sam, who had been listening to Dean's end of the conversation with curiosity. "Ready to gank us some baby wolf Sammy?" Dean grinned.

Sam rolled his eyes and slid a hand down his face. Sometimes there was no dealing with his brother.

They decided to wait until it was nighttime before luring the lycan out, heading to an empty parking lot that was flanked by the forest close to where the creature had killed all of its other victims. Since Bobby said regular bullets would take this thing down, Dean figured they would save the few silver ones they had left and just use normal ones. Sam had protested heavily against this, saying it would be safer to take the silver ones just in case, but Dean stood his ground, saying they were running low on supplies and it would be better to save it for when they really needed it. He finally relented and agreed to carry a silver blade with them too, just to appease Sam. Sam still wasn't very happy with the arrangements, but he made do.

They reached the parking lot around midnight and started scanning the area, waiting for the lycan to come out.

"Here wolfy, wolfy, wolfy," Dean called out, smirking. "Come out and get us, you sorry son of a bitch."

Suddenly, they heard rustling coming from the forest and turned to face that direction. A huge wolf dashed out towards them and nearly collided with them had Sam and Dean not jumped out of the way in time. The wolf circled around and came to a stop in front of them. Both brothers quickly got back to their feet and readied their guns, facing the wolf down. The wolf began changing and took the form of a disheveled, brown haired man.

"Well, well, look what we have here. The Winchester brothers," the man sneered. "I've been wondering how long it would take you to find me, I was getting tired of waiting."

"Well, we're here now. Hope we were worth the wait," Dean smiled cheekily.

"Oh we'll see about that soon, now won't we?" the man answered, licking his lips hungrily.

"Not soon enough," Sam replied, and fired a shot towards the man. To the brother's horrified surprise, the man didn't even flinch.

"What the hell?" Dean yelled.

"Surprised?" the man asked.

"But how?" Sam wondered, bewildered. "Lycans were supposed to die with regular bullets, they're just like humans."

"Oh, I'm no lycan darling. I'm pure werewolf," the man smirked.

"But werewolves only transform under the full moon. How the hell can you change form whenever you want?" Dean questioned.

"You should have figured it out by now, I'm no ordinary werewolf. I'm special." And with a snarl, the man took the form of a wolf once more and darted towards the brothers.

"Sammy, run!" Dean shouted, racing away from the wolf.

Both brothers headed towards the forest, hoping to lose the werewolf in the thicket. As soon as they reached the treeline, Dean turned around and fired a shot towards the wolf, who quickly dodged it. The wolf then made a beeline for Dean and knocked him over, sending him crashing into the trees. Dean grunted at the hard impact and tried to stand up, only to see the wolf jump and crash into Sam, sending them both tumbling to the ground. Dean managed to get up and grab his gun, firing a shot at the wolf before it managed to bite Sam. Though it didn't kill it, it managed to injure the werewolf and cause it to stumble off of Sam, who immediately shot up and took off running again, Dean following close behind.

It didn't take long for the wolf to recover, and soon it was hot on their heels again. The brothers stumbled across a clearing in the forest, and momentarily panicked. Now they were wide open to an attack again, and they turned around just as the wolf came barreling out of the forest and headed straight for Dean. Dean slashed out with the silver blade he managed to keep tucked in the back of his jeans, but the werewolf's paw struck his shoulder, leaving a long gash and knocking him down as it was forced off trajectory. The wolf lunged towards him again, mouth wide open in attack, and Dean closed his eyes to brace for the impact, right as he heard Sam yell, "Dean!"

However, the attack he was expecting never came as he heard a rustle of feathers and a pained yelp from the werewolf. Dean opened his eyes and saw Cas standing a few feet away, hand extended towards the wolf that was now laying on the ground. Dean sighed in relief and watched as the wolf got back up slowly, sensing the danger from the angel and trying to flee. Cas suddenly appeared in front of it again before it had a chance to run off and placed his hand on its head, holding it down and smiting it, reducing it to nothing but a pile of dust.

"Cas," Sam sighed out in relief, mirroring Dean's expression. The angel turned to Sam and made his way towards the younger hunter.

"Sam, are you alright?" Cas asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Sam replied. Cas placed two fingers on Sam's forehead and healed him of his injuries.

"Thanks," Sam said gratefully. The angel nodded in reply.

Dean had sat up and was now slowly getting to his feet. "That was pretty nice timing Cas," he said to the angel.

Castiel turned around to Dean. He stared at the man for a moment before storming towards him, eyes blazing. Dean flinched back a little when he saw the expression on the angel's face. Cas stopped in front of Dean, just shy of entering his personal space, reached out two fingers to his forehead, and healed him. When Dean gave another sigh of relief, Castiel glared at him.

"Why didn't you call for me?" Cas growled angrily. Dean just blinked.

"Do you have any idea how reckless that was. You could have gotten yourself killed, gotten Sam killed-"

"But I didn't and we're fine," Dean cut in. "So things didn't go as planned, big deal, we still managed to gank that son of a bitch," he grinned smugly, clapping Cas on the shoulder.

"_Didn't go as planned_? You went after a werewolf with barely any silver, and what effective weapons you did have put _you_ at a greater risk of being injured than it did the werewolf." Castiel was bristling with anger at the lack of concern Dean was showing towards his foolishness.

"Okay fine, so it wasn't a brilliant move on our part to not bring silver bullets along. But it all worked out in the end, right? Yeah, we got a little scraped up, but lucky we have you in our corner to cover our asses," Dean smiled over at Cas, trying to calm the angel down.

"That still doesn't excuse your recklessness Dean," the angel retorted. "Do you have any idea how many times you've placed yourself in danger due to your rash behavior?"

"Gee Cas, I don't know, I forgot to keep count," Dean remarked sarcastically. He was starting to get annoyed with the angel's tirade.

Castiel gave Dean a hard look and said in a low voice, "Dean, you should have called me when you were in trouble. If I hadn't shown up on time –"

"Yeah, well you know what Cas? Maybe I didn't call you because I knew I could have handled this on my own perfectly fine," Dean snapped, finally getting irritated. Castiel closed his mouth with a snap of his jaw.

"Maybe I didn't call because I don't always need to be looked after like a little kid," Dean bit out, taking a step closer to Cas. "Maybe I didn't call because I don't need someone to show me how this is done. And maybe I didn't call because I don't always need _you_ to mojo me out of everything!" Dean was now standing just inches away from Castiel, panting and trembling from the yelling and from anger.

Castiel stared at Dean, his expression unreadable and blue eyes blank. Dean stared right back, slightly out of breath and green eyes hard, waiting for a reaction. As soon as he got his breath back, Dean realized what he just said and felt regret creeping in. His expression softened. "Cas…" he started, his eyes pleading.

"I see…" Castiel said softly. And he left with a flutter of wings before Dean could gather his thoughts and say any more.

"Damnit!" Dean yelled after a second. Though Castiel's face was a mask, Dean didn't miss the look of hurt that passed through his blue eyes right before he flew off. The regret that had begun inching in suddenly hit him full force and Dean groaned, running his hand down his face and wishing he could take back the last five minutes. It wasn't that he didn't appreciate that Cas had saved their asses, _again_, but Dean didn't like always relying on Castiel to save the day. He knew the angel had better things to do than babysit two humans who always seemed to be getting into trouble. Cas always seemed happy to help out whenever he could, and Dean always enjoyed the angel's company (probably more than he would ever admit), but they were battle-honed hunters and they couldn't keep relying on angelic assistance to keep them alive. Though after Dean's brilliant outburst, he doubted they would be getting much assistance from the angel anytime soon.

"Dean?" Sam cautiously walked forward. He'd watched the entire exchange silently from the background, not wanting to get in between the two.

Sam Winchester wasn't stupid. He's known for quite some time that there was more to the relationship between his brother and the angel than what met the eye. More to the profound bond that the two shared than the two idiots probably even knew themselves. He could see it in the way they looked at each other when they were having their epic staring contests, could feel it in the air whenever the two were in the same room together. Sometimes he'd walk in on a conversation between the two, and the atmosphere would be so charged he could see the sparks flying. Other times, the three of them would be working together on a case, and Dean and Cas would get so caught up on whatever they ended up working on (because somehow the two _always_ ended up working together on something, no matter what they started out doing) that Sam couldn't help but feel like a third wheel or that he was trespassing in the middle of a moment. He could feel the tension growing between the two to the point where it was nearly tangible, and he wanted to shout at them to just hurry up and get together already. He was tired of the constant eye-fucking and them dancing around each other, and if something didn't happen soon, he couldn't be blamed for locking the two together in an angel-proofed closet for an indefinite amount of time. But right now he knew emotions were running high between Dean and Cas, and while he couldn't see Cas' face during the exchange, the look on Dean's told him things were serious.

"It's nothing Sammy," Dean replied. He kept his head down as he turned around to start heading back towards the parking lot. "Let's head back."

Sam silently followed, knowing that Dean wasn't going to say any more, and that pushing the matter would only cause him to close himself off even more. The drive back to the motel was tense and just as silent, and as soon as they got back into their room, Dean headed straight to bed. Sam sighed, knowing it would be a while before Dean would mention anything about what happened earlier. He felt tired and decided to head to bed as well.

Dean was lying on his side with his back facing Sam, and he waited until he heard Sam snoring softly before quietly getting out of bed and slipping out the door.

He walked out to the parking lot and went to the Impala, leaning back against the hood. He stood there silently for a few minutes before he closed his eyes and whispered, "Cas?"

He kept his eyes closed and waited, listening for the telltale sound of wings. When several minutes passed and he heard nothing, Dean opened his eyes and sighed. He went back inside the room and slipped back into bed, falling into an uneasy sleep.

* * *

Several days went by and they hadn't heard a word from the angel. Every night Dean would wait until Sam had fallen asleep before quietly sneaking out of their room, heading outside to try to call Cas. And every night, he would be met with silence, surrounded only by the empty air. He would head back to the room, feeling more dejected as each night passed. Sam had tried to get Dean to talk about it, but Dean didn't have anything to say. He knew he screwed up and that he needed to make things better with Cas, but he didn't know how. And having a chick-flick moment with Sam about the issue was not going to help make things better.

Days turned into weeks, and the brothers had managed to complete several hunts since the last time they saw Castiel. Their last few hunts hadn't gone as badly as the werewolf case and they managed to complete them fairly easily, meaning Cas didn't have to show up to save their sorry asses. That didn't stop Dean from heading out every night after Sam fell asleep, trying to call the angel down to talk. As each night passed without an answer though, Dean kept getting more frustrated and upset.

Eventually, Dean and Sam reached a town where they suspected demonic activity to be occurring. The town had all the signs of demons lurking around, and from the number of deaths that occurred in such a short period of time, they guessed they were dealing with quite a big group. After interviewing some of the victim's families and other witnesses, Sam and Dean figured out that the demons were hiding out in an unused warehouse near the outskirts of town. They decided to wait until the following night to attack, spending the rest of the night and the next day resting up and stocking up on enough supplies to go after the group.

That night, just like every other night since the werewolf incidence, Dean went outside after he heard Sam snoring and leaned back against the Impala. He closed his eyes and waited a moment.

"Hey Cas," Dean called out. "C'mon man, it's been weeks, how long are you gonna keep ignoring me?" He paused, listening. When he heard nothing, Dean continued. "Look, I know it's been a while, but can we just talk? We should really discuss this." Again, Dean paused, waiting to see if Cas would come. "C'mon Cas, don't be a dick." Another moment of silence. "Fine, be that way!"

Dean stormed back to their room, casting one last glance over his shoulder towards the parking lot, hoping to see the angel. When he saw nothing, he went back inside, climbing back into bed and trying to fall asleep, willing his mind to stop playing the sound of feathers rustling that had been haunting him for weeks now.

The next day Dean and Sam started getting ready to tackle the horde of demons they would face off tonight. The prepared salt rounds, blessed holy water, and made sure they had the demon killing blade with them. It was early afternoon by the time they were all ready to go, and Dean decided to go out to get some fresh air. He got into the Impala and started driving around aimlessly, his thoughts drifting to Castiel.

This whole issue with Cas had been bothering Dean more than he would like to admit. The first week Cas didn't answer his calls, Dean had been upset but understanding; he had said some pretty harsh things to the angel. But as the weeks went by, Dean was not only getting more and more upset, he was feeling more and more frustrated at being ignored, and to his confusion, he was even feeling rejected. Like suddenly, Cas didn't want anything to have to do with Dean anymore. He missed the angel, and the idea that Cas didn't want to be around him anymore hurt more than Dean had expected. Right now, as he drove around town, Dean wanted more than anything to see that dark, messy hair and those celestial blue eyes again. To hear that deep, gravelly voice call out his name. Right now he realized, all he wanted more than anything was _Cas_. And that realization hit him hard, almost knocking the wind out of him. He pulled the car over and stepped outside, eyes wide and heart racing as he realized why the thought of Cas and his absence bothered him so much. As he realized what Castiel really meant to him.

As he began to calm down, Dean looked around and saw that he somehow ended up in front of the warehouse the demons were hiding out in. Seeing this as a good opportunity to get a layout of the place so they would be better prepared for tonight, he grabbed a gun with salt rounds from the trunk and headed quietly towards the warehouse.

When he reached the front door, he opened it just enough to be able to look through the crack. When the inside seemed empty, he headed in. Dean had barely walked five steps into the building when the door slammed shut behind him and he was suddenly surrounded.

"Well, well, well, look what the Devil dragged in," smirked a demon in front of Dean. Dean looked around and saw that he was surrounded, that there were probably 20 demons in the room.

_'Ahhh crap,'_ Dean thought.

"Seems like we can never get you Winchesters off our backs, now can we?" asked the demon, probably the head of the group.

"What can I say, we like looking for trouble," Dean smirked, trying to look for a way out of the ring of demons that surrounded him.

"Well, unfortunately for you, we're more trouble than you can handle. Looks like you just hit the jackpot," the head demon said smugly.

"Funny, I could say the same to you." Dean quickly stepped to the side and broke out of the chain of demons, firing salt rounds into the crowd and knocking 3 of the demons out. He was severely outnumbered though, and was quickly thrown against the wall, being pinned against it by the demons. The head demon came forward, twirling a knife in his hands.

"Dean, Dean, Dean, when will you learn? Did you really think you could go against all of us and have a hope of walking out alive?" the demon asked.

"Well, it was wishful thinking," Dean replied back.

"Too bad wishes won't save you this time Winchester. Any last words?" the demon smirked.

"Yeah," Dean growled, "bite me."

The head demon smirked and raised the knife, and Dean closed his eyes, bracing for the blow. But in that split second before the knife came down, Dean heard something. A sound that he hadn't heard in a long time, but one that he would recognize in a heartbeat. The sound of rustling feathers. The sound of _Cas_. And in that split second, Dean was suddenly across the room as the knife came down and hit the wall with a _clang_.

He hesitated to open his eyes, scared that the sound was once again a figment of his imagination and that the angel wasn't there. But once his eyes were open, he was greeted by the sight of a trench coat clad figure, ruffled hair, and piercing blue eyes. Dean froze. "Cas," he breathed out.

Cas' eyes met his for a moment, and all Dean could do was sit there and think about how much he missed looking into those eyes. Angry howls interrupted them, and Dean and Castiel both turned to see the mob of demons slowly making their way towards them, furious and ready to fight. Dean spotted his gun on the floor nearby and quickly grabbed it, rising to stand. He made his way over to Cas, who had slid his angel blade out of his sleeve and got into a fighting stance. They exchanged a quick glance and nodded, then took up positions back to back as the demons surrounded them.

Dean started firing of the salt rounds, stunning and incapacitating the demons while Cas made his way through the crowd with his angel blade, killing one demon after another. When Dean ran out of rounds, he used his gun to slam into the demons, stunning them so Cas could finish them off. He was entranced by the graceful movements of the angel, who moved as though he was dancing among the demons while he dodged hits and slashed out with his blade. Pretty soon, all of the demons that were in the warehouse lay dead at their feet, and Dean smiled triumphantly at Cas.

Castiel just stared back with a blank look on his face, and Dean's smile slowly fell. Seeing Cas again after so long was a huge relief to Dean, but at the same time it reminded him of how the angel had ignored all of his calls and pleas for weeks. Dean's relief started fading and he felt all of the frustration that he felt throughout the past few weeks build and well up inside him, threatening to overflow. He fixed Cas with a hard look, jaw set with anger.

"Where the hell have you been?" Dean demanded. Cas raised an eyebrow.

"I've been calling for you for weeks, and you finally decide to show up now? What the hell man?"

"I was under the impression that I was no longer needed," Castiel evenly replied. "You said so yourself that you were perfectly capable of taking care of yourself and didn't need me to 'mojo you out of everything.' I figured whatever problem you wanted to discuss, you could handle without any angelic interference."

"Damnit Cas, I didn't mean it like that..." Dean felt guilty again, his anger evaporating.

"Then what did you mean it as, Dean? Because to me, it seemed clear that I am no longer necessary for your endeavors and its success." Castiel's eyes were flashing with anger and hurt.

"That's not true!" Dean called out, desperation tinging his voice.

"Then what is true, Dean?" Castiel asked, growing frustrated. "What did you mean when you said those things back then? I felt that you didn't need me so I stayed away, and now you're saying that's not the case. Help me Dean, because clearly there is something I'm missing here."

"Cas, that's not how I feel, you know that," Dean implored.

"Then how do you really feel?" the angel asked softly.

"I…" Dean faltered. He couldn't do it. He couldn't tell Cas and risk him not feeling the same. He couldn't handle being rejected. He couldn't handle losing his best friend.

But as he saw Cas turn around and start walking away, he gathered his resolve and thought '_fuck it_,' calling out, "Cas, wait."

But when Castiel kept walking, Dean strode after him, feeling a touch of anger creep in again along with the desperation. "Cas!" he called out. He caught up to Cas and reached out to grab his shoulder and spun him around to face him.

"Damnit Cas, don't walk away from me," Dean growled out. Suddenly, he felt himself being pushed back against the wall, pinned down by Castiel.

"What do you want from me, Dean?" Castiel growled back. "What more can I do that I'm not doing already? I try so hard to help you and protect you, and yet you never seem to appreciate it. So what more do you want from me? Give me one good reason why I should stick around," Castiel challenged, staring right into Dean's eyes. Dean was silent as Castiel held on a moment longer before releasing him and taking a step back, turning around to walk away again.

Castiel felt his arm being grabbed again and suddenly, he was the one pinned to the wall as Dean kept one hand on his arm and slammed the other right next to his head, trapping him below the hunter. Dean's green eyes locked with Castiel's blue ones as he held the angel against the wall and leaned over him.

"You want a reason?" Dean whispered, his breath ghosting across Castiel's face.

He leaned down and captured Castiel's lips with his own in a heated and passionate kiss. Castiel gasped in surprise and was still for a moment before he started kissing back with just as much fiery passion. Dean moaned in approval and stepped closer, pressing himself against Cas and moving his hand from Cas' arm to the back of his neck as he deepened the kiss. He ran his tongue along Cas' lips and didn't hesitate when Cas opened his mouth in response. He tongue tangled with Cas' as they battled for dominance, and when Cas let up, Dean slid it across the roof of his mouth, eliciting a deep moan from the angel. He grinned into the kiss and repeated the action, getting a louder moan in response as Castiel pressed himself closer and placed one hand on the back of Dean's head, running his fingers through his short hair, as his other hand found Dean's shoulder. They held onto each other tightly and continued to kiss fiercely, and after a few more moments, they pulled apart, faces flushed and gasping for air.

Dean leaned back down and rested his forehead against Cas', closing his eyes and panting, trying to get his breath back. After a moment, he opened his eyes to see Castiel had his eyes closed and was breathing hard, his face still flushed. "That a good enough reason for you?" Dean asked huskily.

Cas opened his eyes, blue peering into green as he breathed, "Dean…"

Dean gently cupped the angel's face in his hands. "I'm sorry I've been such a dick, Cas. I never meant for you to think that you're not needed, that you're not appreciated. I never meant to push you away. I honestly don't know what I would do without you. I need you Cas, probably more than I've ever needed anyone before. I…I love you." Dean peered intently into Castiel's eyes, pleading with the angel to understand and accept his feelings and his apology.

Castiel looked searchingly into Dean's eyes before he lowered his gaze and shook his head. Dean felt his heart drop before the angel looked up again with a wide smile on his face. He placed a hand on the side of Dean's face and said, "Dean, I love you too."

Dean could hardly believe it. He stared long and hard into the angel's eyes, and when he only saw love and forgiveness shining back, his face broke out into a huge grin as he pulled the angel forward into a tight embrace. Cas hugged him back, grabbing onto the back of his shirt and holding on just as tight. Dean pulled back slightly and kissed the angel again, soft and slow. When they pulled apart again, he grinned and whispered, "I love you Cas."

"I love you too Dean," Castiel breathed. He rested his head against Dean's shoulder and soaked in the warmth of his embrace. He then frowned as he remembered the reason for their dispute. He lifted his head up and fixed Dean with a stern gaze, the hunter peering back, confused. "Just promise me that you'll be more careful in the future and that you'll call me when you need help," Castiel said.

Dean laughed and pressed his forehead against Cas' again. "Don't worry Cas, I promise," he said.

"Good," Castiel replied. "I don't want to lose you right after I just got you."

"You can't get rid of me that easy," Dean smirked. Cas shot him a disapproving look.

Dean huffed a laugh and tightened his hold around Cas, pulling him closer, expression going solemn. "You'll always have me Cas," Dean said, voice full of sincerity as he looked down into the depths of the angel's eyes.

That was all the reassurance Castiel needed as he leaned up and kissed the hunter again, and in that moment, everything felt perfect.

In that moment, Dean Winchester officially felt like the luckiest guy ever.

* * *

**A/N: I got the idea for lycans vs. werewolves from MissAnnThropic's fic "TSO II: The Unbroken Ones" and added my own little touch to it.**

**I hope you've liked this story. Please review and let me know what you think.**


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